Which would you prefer: one superstar or a depth chart featuring a slew of quality players?

That's the question that comes to my mind when I heard that the Detroit Lions rewarded Calvin Johnson with the biggest contract in NFL history: an eight-year, $132-million contract that runs through the 2019-20 season. The salary exceeds the $120 million that Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald received in 2011.

That's a significant amount of money to invest in one asset. Johnson is guaranteed $53 million of the extension. However, Johnson has proven that he can contribute regardless of whether his quarterback is Drew Stanton, Shaun Hill or Matthew Stafford. The 26-year-old receiver finished the 2011-12 season with 96 receptions for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. Johnson has only missed three games in five seasons.

This fascinates me. Let's take a brief look at the salaries of the top-five receivers on the Green Bay Packers. Salary figures from rotoworld.com. Which would you prefer?

Calvin Johnson: eight-year, $132-million contract signed in 2012.

OR

Greg Jennings: four-year, $26.885-million contract signed in 2009

Donald Driver: three-year, $17.208-million contract signed in 2010

Jordy Nelson: four-year, $13.989-million contract signed in 2011

James Jones: three-year, $9.40-million contract signed in 2011

Randall Cobb: four-year, $3.209-million contract signed in 2011

That's five contracts with three-year and four-year terms which combine for approximately 71 million. That number could be reduced depending on whether Driver reworks his contract or if he's released this offseason. Basically, the Packers are paying as much to their entire allotment of wide receivers (on average) as the Lions are paying to one player.

Now I'm not saying that any of those receivers are in Johnson's league. I'm just saying that the Packers are getting a remarkable return on their investment when compared to teams who spend so heavily on one asset.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson also has Aaron Rodgers locked up through the 2014-15 season after Rodgers signed a six-year, $65-million contract toward the end of 2008. The New York Jets just signed Mark Sanchez to an extension that could pay him $58.25 million over five years. That's not even including the $10 million in escalators.

Of course, one could argue that Thompson doesn't need to overpay for receivers because Rodgers is good enough to make any receiver look like an All-Pro in an offense that scored 560 points during the 2011-12 season. Stafford isn't that good yet. Stafford needs the attention that Johnson draws unto himself. Stafford can capitalize on the other receivers who aren't attended for.

Thompson might be overly-conservative with his cap space. However, this gives him the flexibility to re-sign the players that he feels are the most vital to the team's success. Thompson has been very accurate in his assessments outside of defensive linemen. Justin Harrell, Mike Neal and Cullen Jenkins could've been handled better.

No general manager is perfect though. Hopefully, Thompson can correct this deficiency either by free agency or the 2012 NFL Draft.

Joshua Huffman graduated from Middle Tennessee State University as a marketing major in 2009. He's been a Middle Tennessee resident from 1986-88 and 2001-present. He lived in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin from 1988-01 and for approximately eight months in 2009-10 as he completed a 20-game volunteer position with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers. His favorite sports organizations include the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cubs, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. He can be found on Twitter HERE. @JoshuaRHuffman

Here is my comment:

Quote:

Hey Josh? How many of your Packer WR's can be triple covered and still come down with the ball? I think your just green with envy.

March 15th, 2012, 10:13 am

Hystrix

National Champion

Joined: August 13th, 2006, 11:04 pmPosts: 882Location: Washington, DC

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

Yeah, that's jealousy.

I'd rather have CJ that those receivers on the Packers any day. It's not like he's our only guy. Titus Young had a decent rookie year. Pett and Scheff are one of the best TE tandums in the leauge...

Which would you prefer: one superstar or a depth chart featuring a slew of quality players?

That's the question that comes to my mind when I heard that the Detroit Lions rewarded Calvin Johnson with the biggest contract in NFL history: an eight-year, $132-million contract that runs through the 2019-20 season. The salary exceeds the $120 million that Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald received in 2011.

That's a significant amount of money to invest in one asset. Johnson is guaranteed $53 million of the extension. However, Johnson has proven that he can contribute regardless of whether his quarterback is Drew Stanton, Shaun Hill or Matthew Stafford. The 26-year-old receiver finished the 2011-12 season with 96 receptions for 1,681 yards and 16 touchdowns. Johnson has only missed three games in five seasons.

This fascinates me. Let's take a brief look at the salaries of the top-five receivers on the Green Bay Packers. Salary figures from rotoworld.com. Which would you prefer?

Calvin Johnson: eight-year, $132-million contract signed in 2012.

OR

Greg Jennings: four-year, $26.885-million contract signed in 2009

Donald Driver: three-year, $17.208-million contract signed in 2010

Jordy Nelson: four-year, $13.989-million contract signed in 2011

James Jones: three-year, $9.40-million contract signed in 2011

Randall Cobb: four-year, $3.209-million contract signed in 2011

That's five contracts with three-year and four-year terms which combine for approximately 71 million. That number could be reduced depending on whether Driver reworks his contract or if he's released this offseason. Basically, the Packers are paying as much to their entire allotment of wide receivers (on average) as the Lions are paying to one player.

Now I'm not saying that any of those receivers are in Johnson's league. I'm just saying that the Packers are getting a remarkable return on their investment when compared to teams who spend so heavily on one asset.

Packers general manager Ted Thompson also has Aaron Rodgers locked up through the 2014-15 season after Rodgers signed a six-year, $65-million contract toward the end of 2008. The New York Jets just signed Mark Sanchez to an extension that could pay him $58.25 million over five years. That's not even including the $10 million in escalators.

Of course, one could argue that Thompson doesn't need to overpay for receivers because Rodgers is good enough to make any receiver look like an All-Pro in an offense that scored 560 points during the 2011-12 season. Stafford isn't that good yet. Stafford needs the attention that Johnson draws unto himself. Stafford can capitalize on the other receivers who aren't attended for.

Thompson might be overly-conservative with his cap space. However, this gives him the flexibility to re-sign the players that he feels are the most vital to the team's success. Thompson has been very accurate in his assessments outside of defensive linemen. Justin Harrell, Mike Neal and Cullen Jenkins could've been handled better.

No general manager is perfect though. Hopefully, Thompson can correct this deficiency either by free agency or the 2012 NFL Draft.

Joshua Huffman graduated from Middle Tennessee State University as a marketing major in 2009. He's been a Middle Tennessee resident from 1986-88 and 2001-present. He lived in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin from 1988-01 and for approximately eight months in 2009-10 as he completed a 20-game volunteer position with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers. His favorite sports organizations include the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cubs, Nashville Predators and Tennessee Titans. He can be found on Twitter HERE. @JoshuaRHuffman

Here is my comment:

Quote:

Hey Josh? How many of your Packer WR's can be triple covered and still come down with the ball? I think your just green with envy.

I think he loses some credibility here. Does he not understand that even without Johnson's production Stafford still had a what 3300 yard/25 TD season. Half the league would kill for that production. Obviously the guy is just jealous that the Lions have the best WR in the NFL. It doesn't help that the packers haven't done anything exciting in FA so far.

He claims that the Packers wide receivers combined cost the same as CJ ("Basically, the Packers are paying as much to their entire allotment of wide receivers (on average) as the Lions are paying to one player").

Salary per year of the Packers receivers combined = $20mSalary per year for CJ = $16.5

Last time I checked, 20 > 16.5

The Lions have about $25m per annum locked up in their receiving core. The Packers have $20m. I'd take our receivers at an extra $5m any day.

March 15th, 2012, 11:46 am

Footsoldier32

Mr. Irrelevant

Joined: February 28th, 2007, 12:13 pmPosts: 973

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

This thread certainly deserves the phrase "lol" in the title. You can't argue how productive and deep GB's receivering corps is. I think I'd still rather be in our situation because no one commands attention like Calvin does. Andre Johsnon or Fitz might be close but I don't know that anyone else does. He completely opens the field for everyone else. You can argue all day long as to whether or not Stafford belongs in the same category as Rodgers but the fact of the matter is that Matt did a great job of spreading the ball around this year and really did well despite a pretty poor running game and fairly limited playing time for such a young career. As far as I'm concerned, our offenses are nearly equal. We both have QB's who had great years, a great receiver corps, and a weak running game.

And sooner or later, Greg Jennings' contract is going to be up and Green Bay is going to have to open the wallet. He's a very good Pro Bowl receiver and is widely considered a top 10 receiver in the league. He isn't going to come cheaply to them either. It won't take long for this article to have no reason to exist.

He claims that the Packers wide receivers combined cost the same as CJ ("Basically, the Packers are paying as much to their entire allotment of wide receivers (on average) as the Lions are paying to one player").

Salary per year of the Packers receivers combined = $20mSalary per year for CJ = $16.5

Last time I checked, 20 > 16.5

The Lions have about $25m per annum locked up in their receiving core. The Packers have $20m. I'd take our receivers at an extra $5m any day.

I completely agree! Not to mention that CJ's deal is for 8 years and effectively locks up the best WR in game for the duration of his career! Whereas all these Green Bay contracts are for half that time or less and will all have to be redone later at ever increasing NFL prices.

This guy made a moronic and very short term comparison.

_________________

March 15th, 2012, 12:45 pm

conversion02

RIP Killer

Joined: January 26th, 2005, 9:34 pmPosts: 10457Location: Sycamore, IL

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

Driver isn't even worth $2M per year. Cobb, maybe $1-1.5M. His type is a dime a dozen.

Would have been interesting to see the production of CJ vs those 5 receivers.

March 15th, 2012, 1:56 pm

Hystrix

National Champion

Joined: August 13th, 2006, 11:04 pmPosts: 882Location: Washington, DC

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

buell17 wrote:

Would have been interesting to see the production of CJ vs those 5 receivers.

Those guys combined have more production, of course. But not one of them by themselves can compare. And CJ gets tripled covered and still comes down with the ball. CJ is better than Greg Jenning, or Jordy Nelson and as was stated earlier, these guys are gonna demand high $$ when thier contracts are up...

March 18th, 2012, 9:16 am

wjb21ndtown

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

UK Lion wrote:

The guy can't even do math.

He claims that the Packers wide receivers combined cost the same as CJ ("Basically, the Packers are paying as much to their entire allotment of wide receivers (on average) as the Lions are paying to one player").

Salary per year of the Packers receivers combined = $20mSalary per year for CJ = $16.5

Last time I checked, 20 > 16.5

The Lions have about $25m per annum locked up in their receiving core. The Packers have $20m. I'd take our receivers at an extra $5m any day.

Jones/Jordy are better than our #2/3 any day. I really think that the entire WR corps is close, and I may actually rather have GBs. I think CJ is better than Jennings, but not astronomically. Additionally, look at what GB can do with their offense - they have a good short game, a good mid-range game, and a good deep game. They have four guys that they can go deep to, we basically have two (CJ and Titus).

Sure, Driver is old and over-paid, but at least he's clutch, super reliable, and a great leader. Nate sucks and he's over-paid, period.

conversion02 wrote:

Driver isn't even worth $2M per year. Cobb, maybe $1-1.5M. His type is a dime a dozen.

Oh, and why doesn't Finley figure into that at $7M per year?

I agree Conversion - I think Finley more or less evens everything out, but if Cobb is a "dime a dozen" I wish we had one...

March 19th, 2012, 12:26 pm

m2karateman

RIP Killer

Joined: October 20th, 2004, 4:16 pmPosts: 10019Location: Where ever I'm at now

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

conversion02 wrote:

Driver isn't even worth $2M per year. Cobb, maybe $1-1.5M. His type is a dime a dozen.

I can't say I agree with your assessment here. I'd take Driver at $2M per year, easy. I'll take him over Burleson, save the $3M per year and give that to someone else. Driver is a physical guy that doesn't get bumped easily at the line, and is a good downfield blocker. Burleson's only hope to be open is that the CB covering him is playing off, or is a weakling. Randall Cobb has been in the league one year, and was essentially their fourth receiver. How can you confidently say what he is or isn't worth? I think he's potentially a better receiver than Titus Young, whom I think is already better than Burleson.

Quote:

Oh, and why doesn't Finley figure into that at $7M per year?

Good question.

When it comes down to it, I'd take Green Bays receiving corps over ours, that's for sure. They are deeper and more talented. However, CJ is worth any two of them, plus. If the Lions had a decent possession receiver to play the Z spot, we'd suddenly have a better corps of receivers. It's precisely why I wouldn't be terribly upset if the Lions used a third or fourth round pick on a tall receiver with good hands (Juron Criner would be nice). At that point, Burleson could platoon with Young and the new guy to create match up problems galore. Throw Scheffler and Pett into the mix and it becomes near devestating.

_________________I will not put on blinders when it comes to our QBs performances.

The proof is in the pudding. Green Bay is a major powerhouse and their receivers are a big part of that success. While we could quibble all day about whose #3 or #4 is better, the Packers can certainly boast better results in the form of a Super Bowl and subsequent 15-1 season.

The article, however, is nonsense. Comparing the contract of one of the league's best players to a collection of contracts from good players is apples-and-oranges. Elite players make a different level of cash than good players.

_________________Proud member of the Contract Extension for Schwartz Fan Club.

March 19th, 2012, 2:22 pm

thelomasbrowns

Rookie Player of the Year

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2431

Re: Packer fans article about CJ's contract. LOL.

I hate all the other teams in the North and I'm glad we're no longer the whipping boy. Now let's take it to the Pack and win the division!

_________________"There were a couple times where I was just like, 'Is that legal?" Warford said. "Cause he was getting laid out. I was like, 'Someone might call the cops. This is not fair.'"